Pehlwani: Wrestling in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
Pehlwani is the modern Indian sport, combining 2500-year-old Hindi wrestling and Persian-style wrestling. A fighter is called a pehlwan, Persian for champion or warrior.
Wrestlers train 4-5 hours, beginning at 5:00 a.m., using techniques adapted from yoga and Western wrestling. To wrestle, pehlwans grease their bodies and wrestle in dust pits. Victory is determined by decision (by a panel of judges), submission, or knockout.
Sawari is one training technique, in which pehlwans use another person's body weight to build mass and agility.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI have been to manu akharas in Banaras.
Nice post.
Munish
www.varanasi-ganges.com
Thanks, Munish. I looked up your site. Very interesting. Perhaps some day I can visit there, and experience it all in person. Joe
ReplyDelete